Ryanair has reported an increase in full-year profits, which is a larger number than analysts’ expected. Net profit for the year to the end of March rose by 66% to €867m (£614m; $948m). One factor of this was the falling oil prices, which reduced operating costs.

Passenger traffic was up 11% to 90.6 million customers and total revenue increased 12% to more than €5.6bn. Ryanair said that because they are facing a rise in demand, they had ordered 183 Boeing 737-800 planes to be delivered from 2014-18 as well as 200 Boeing 737 Max 200s from 2019-2023.

The Irish airline said that the new engines would be 18% more efficient as well as the aircraft being cheaper to finance and operate. It also stated that the amount of extra passengers they receive is largely driven by its new Business Plus and Family Extra services.

In the past, Ryanair has tried to take over another rival firm, Aer Lingus, but did not have any success. Ryanair owns 29.8% of the airline but the firm is now also a takeover target for International Airlines Group (IAG) and so Ryanair may not have much say in the possibility of a takeover. IAG owns British Airways and Iberia.

The Irish government owns 25% of Aer Lingus and in February said that it could not approve an offer of £1 billion from IAG for the carrier. This is because it wanted more clarity on guaranteeing jobs and extra information on IAG’s transatlantic plans. Despite this, Aer Lingus has welcomed the offer that IAG has provided.